A Zodiac moving through brash ice in Antarctica

The Ice and the Kings · Polar and expedition

Antarctica and South Georgia

Seventeen days from Ushuaia. The Peninsula, then east across the Scotia Sea to the king penguin beaches of South Georgia, the half of Antarctica nobody warns you about.

Plan this journey →Day by day

Zodiac in brash ice, Antarctica

Journeys · Polar and expedition · Antarctica and South GeorgiaUpdated October 2026

Length: 16 nights, 17 days
Season: November to March
From port: Ushuaia, Argentina
Ship style: Small expedition ship
Group size: Under 200 guests, ashore in small groups
From: CA$30,000Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote

Overview

Is South Georgia worth adding to Antarctica?

If you have the days, yes. Most people book the Peninsula alone and come home thinking they have seen Antarctica. South Georgia is the other half.

This journey starts with two nights in Buenos Aires so you arrive rested, then a charter south to Ushuaia and the ship. Two days across the Drake Passage, four on the Antarctic Peninsula, two east through the Scotia Sea, and four at South Georgia, where the king penguin colonies at Salisbury Plain and St Andrews Bay run to numbers that stop meaning anything.

Nothing here is a promise about a particular bay on a particular day. Ice, wind and swell decide, and the captain decides after them. The substitution is often the better morning.

The route

Where the ship goes

Drawn by hand, not to scale. The order can reverse on some departures, and the Falklands stop depends on the sea and the schedule.

Not to scale. Drawn for this page in the Field mark palette.

1Ushuaia, Argentina. Board in the afternoon after the charter from Buenos Aires, and sail the Beagle Channel at dinner.
2The Drake Passage. Two days at sea, lectures, and albatross off the stern.
3The Antarctic Peninsula. Four days of landings and Zodiac cruises.
4South Orkney Islands. A landing if the swell allows, on the way east.
5South Georgia. Four days. Fortuna Bay, Grytviken, Salisbury Plain, St Andrews Bay, Gold Harbour.
6The Falkland Islands, optional. On departures and days that allow it, on the way home.

Main routeWay home, Falklands when possible

Day by day

What happens on each day of the expedition

A sample sequence. Every departure is planned around the ship's own schedule, and the days at sea move with the weather.

Days 1 and 2Buenos Aires, on purpose

The overnight flights land in the morning, which is the worst hour to arrive anywhere, so we build in two nights before you go near a ship. A hotel in Recoleta with a courtyard and a proper breakfast, and nothing scheduled on the first day except a walk, a late dinner and sleep.

Buenos Aires · Recoleta

Day 3South to Ushuaia, and the ship

A charter flight of about three and a half hours to Ushuaia. The last forty minutes, down the Beagle Channel with the Darwin Range alongside, is when the trip starts. You board in the afternoon and dinner is served while the pilot boat is still alongside.

Ushuaia · the Beagle Channel

Days 4 and 5The Drake Passage

The observation lounge of a small expedition ship, a guest at the window with binoculars, ice outside — The observation lounge, where the sea-day lectures and the watching happen

Two days at sea. The Drake can be glassy, which people call the Drake Lake, or rough for a day, which people call the Drake Shake. Take the medication on the first morning rather than during the first bad hour.

These are not lost days. The lecture program runs, you meet the naturalists who will stand beside you on every beach, and a wandering albatross holds station off the stern without moving a wing.

The Drake Passage · the Antarctic Convergence

Days 6 to 9Four days on the Peninsula

A small expedition ship dwarfed by the black rock and snow walls of the Lemaire Channel — An expedition ship in the Lemaire Channel, Antarctic Peninsula

Two landings most days, or a Zodiac cruise when the ice is worth sitting still in. The Lemaire Channel early in the morning with the engines barely turning. A gentoo colony at Neko Harbour where the birds have worn their own paths into the snow and you give way to them.

Lemaire Channel · Neko Harbour · Danco Island · Wilhelmina Bay

Days 10 and 11East through the Scotia Sea

The stretch that separates this journey from the standard one. Two days northeast with little land in sight apart from the South Orkney Islands, where a research base and, swell permitting, a chinstrap colony wait. The light goes long and silver and stays until nearly midnight.

The Scotia Sea · South Orkney Islands

Days 12 to 15South Georgia

King penguins and brown chicks on the grey plain at Salisbury Plain, green tussock hills and a glacier behind — King penguins at Salisbury Plain, South Georgia

Four days, and the reason for the other thirteen. Fortuna Bay first, a wide grey beach with a glacier behind it and a king penguin colony you hear from the water. The walk over the saddle to Stromness follows the last hours of the Shackleton crossing, about six kilometres on wet ground with a real climb, and entirely optional.

Grytviken the next day: the old whaling station, a small white church, a museum with a post office, and the Shackleton grave at the top of the slope. Then Salisbury Plain and St Andrews Bay, and Gold Harbour on the last morning if the swell is kind.

Fortuna Bay · Stromness · Grytviken · Salisbury Plain · St Andrews Bay · Gold Harbour

Day 16West, and the Falklands if the sea allows

On departures that route home by the Falklands, a landing near Stanley or at an outer island colony. Otherwise a sea day, a final recap, and an auction for the chart the bridge has been marking in pencil since the first morning.

The Scotia Sea · the Falkland Islands, optional

Day 17Ushuaia, and home

Disembark after breakfast and fly north the same day. We would add one more night in Buenos Aires on the way home rather than connecting straight through. Nobody is good company in an airport after this.

Ushuaia · Buenos Aires

Where you stay

A cabin chosen with you, and a hotel worth arriving at

A cabin on a small expedition ship, a made bed beside a large window onto sea ice and mountains — A cabin with a window onto the ice, Antarctic Peninsula

On the ship, fourteen nights

A small expedition ship with fewer than two hundred guests, which matters because landing rules limit how many people can be ashore at once. We settle the cabin category with you, rather than the one a booking site defaults to: deck height for the Drake, a balcony if you will use it, and which side of the ship the light falls on.

Included aboard

Every meal, with wine and beer at lunch and dinner
All landings, Zodiac cruises and the expedition team
An expedition parka to keep, and boots on loan in your size

Virtuoso, where it applies

A shipboard credit or a hosted extra on sailings that carry a Virtuoso amenity, when available

A quiet stone hotel courtyard with a jacaranda in bloom and a breakfast table for two — A hotel courtyard in Recoleta, Buenos Aires

Before the ship, two nights in Buenos Aires

A hotel in Recoleta that we have stayed in ourselves, booked on our Virtuoso rate. If your flights land the night before the charter instead, we use a pre-night in Ushuaia with a view of the channel.

Virtuoso benefits at the hotel

Breakfast for two each morning of your stay
A room upgrade on arrival, when available
A hotel credit to use during your stay
Early check-in and late check-out, when available

Benefits vary by hotel and are confirmed with your quote.

In the ice

What the days on the Peninsula look like

Our own photographs from the 2026 season are still being edited. Until they are ready, the pictures below are illustrations of the kind of places on this route.

A Zodiac of guests in red parkas cruising among icebergs on still water below glaciated peaks — A Zodiac cruise among icebergs, Paradise Harbour

Gentoo penguins on pebble nests on dark rock, an expedition ship anchored offshore below a glacier — A gentoo colony with the ship offshore, Neko Harbour

An expedition ship at rest on mirror-calm water between snow-covered mountains — A calm morning at anchor, Antarctic Peninsula

Why travel with us on this one

Our own trip, January to March 2026

Between January and March 2026 we travelled south and made the crossing both ways, so the advice on this page about the sea, the cabins and the cold is first-hand and recent.

That is why we book the deck and the cabin side deliberately, why the medication goes on at breakfast on day one, and why we push for the extra night in Buenos Aires before the charter. Small things, and most of the difference.

We also send a note ahead to the hotel before you land. You never see it, and it is most of the reason the arrival feels different.

About us →How we work and fees →

A penguin on a rock below an iceberg, Antarctic Peninsula — The Antarctic Peninsula, January 2026

The fine print, at full size

What is included, and what is not

Included

HotelTwo nights in Buenos Aires before the ship, with breakfast, on our Virtuoso rate.

Flights southThe charter from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia and back, with transfers and someone meeting you at both ends.

VoyageFourteen nights aboard in the cabin you choose, all meals, wine and beer with lunch and dinner.

AshoreEvery landing, every Zodiac cruise, and the full expedition team.

KitThe parka to keep, and rubber boots on loan.

From usA written plan in your trip portal, the note to the hotel, and your advisor on the other end of an email.

Not included

International flightsBooked separately, because the routing from Canada matters more than a bundle.

InsuranceMandatory on this voyage, including evacuation cover. We tell you what the policy must say and read yours to check.

Optional activitiesKayaking, camping ashore and similar extras, which we would rather talk through with you than have ticked late at night.

GratuitiesSettled aboard at the end. We tell you the going rate before you go.

Extra nightsThe night in Buenos Aires on the way home, which we recommend.

Questions

What people ask before Antarctica

Ask us anything else. The first conversation costs nothing.

When is the best time to go to Antarctica and South Georgia?

The season runs November to March. November brings clean ice and courtship on the beaches, December and January bring chicks and the longest light, and February into March is best for whales. For South Georgia, November and December catch the colonies at their busiest.

Will I be seasick on the Drake Passage?

Possibly for a day, and almost everybody is fine by the second. See your doctor before you go, start the medication on the first morning rather than waiting, and choose a cabin low and central. If the Drake is what stands between you and going at all, ask us about the fly-cruise.

How fit do I need to be?

Every landing is a wet landing: you step off a Zodiac into ankle-deep water and walk up a beach. Most walks are short. The Shackleton walk at South Georgia is about six kilometres with a real climb, and it is optional. We have planned this journey for people with a bad knee. Tell us about the knee.

What should I pack?

Layers rather than bulk. A real down layer under the parka for Zodiac cruises, waterproof trousers, two pairs of gloves because one will get wet, a warm hat, sunglasses and high-factor sunscreen for the glare. The ship provides the parka and the boots, so the list is shorter than you think. We send a full list once you book.

Read before you go

Tell us your season and who is travelling, and we will hold the right cabin

Plan this journey →All journeys

A first note commits you to nothing. We reply within one business day, and you will have a written quote before anything is held.

Antarctica and South Georgia
From CA$30,000 · indicativePlan this journey